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Rodolfo Biagi - Su Orquesta y Sus Cantores

Reliquias 595171

All the Argentine labels like to put out albums dedicated to an orchestra's individual singers. This approach falls down a bit when these singers didn't record 20 tracks apiece. An album like this is the result: a mismatch of tracks from different singers and different periods which fills in all the gaps in your collection.

That said, this is a really good CD. This is the only CD with Biagi#s fine version of the instrumental El incendio - how did that happen? Fans of singer Jorge Ortiz will be pleased to find another fine tango from him, Equipaje, and to the DJs I'd also point out the lone track with Carlos Saavedra from 1946.

You also get half a dozen tracks with Hugo Duval. Some years ago Euro released a CD of the recordings of Biagi with Duval on the COlumbia label, to whom Biagi switched in the middle of 1956. Those later recordings (such as En el lago azul) became quite popular for a while but they split opinion - I can't get on with them myself. The tracks here are from 1954-1956. They lack the bombast of those later recordings, but the combination of high energy and a slow pace means that this is music for which one have to find the right moment.

This is also the only cd on which Reliquias have reprinted the fine instrumental milonga Picante.

Clearly, a poor choice for a first Biagi CD, but for the collectors reading these notes, this is a highly recommended CD

Track list

1. Santa milonguita
2. Alguien
3. Organito de la tarde
4. Sangre de mi sangre
5. Y no te voy a llorar
6. Picante milonga
7. No me digas que no
8. Triste comedia
9. El rápido
10. Caricias
11. Por eso grito
12. Marcheta (Marquita) vals
13. Anselmo Laguna
14. Equipaje
15. Maleva
16. Barrio reo
17. Arrebato
18. El incendio
19. Cielo!
20. Gólgota

Cantan:

• Hugo Duval (1,2,4,5,7,8)
• Carlos Heredia (10)
• Carlos Saavedra (11)
• Alberto Amor (13)
• Jorge Ortiz (14)
• Carlos Acuña (16)
• Alberto Lago (17)
• Andrés Falgás (19)
• Teófilo Ibáñez (20)

Troilo / Fiorentino Vol.2

BMG 71390

I'm not even going to attempt to review this CD. You should have all the tracks already. The transfers are the earlier ones used on the Tango Argentino label and the Troilo series Obra Completa, perhaps a little more natural at times than the ones on the later series Aníbal Troilo en RCA Victor.

No, the only reason you would get this is probably that you are a collector and you just love the cover - a fantastic sketch of Troilo and Fiorentino by the cartoonist Hermenigildo Sabat.

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1. Gricel
2. Soy muchacho de la guardia
3. Los mareados
4. Lejos de Buenos Aires
5. Del tiempo guapo milonga
6. El Encopao
7. Tristezas de la calle Corrientes
8. No te apures, Carablanca
9. Barrio De Tango
10. Pa' Que Seguir
11. Pedacito de cielo vals
12. Por las calles de la vida
13. Margarita Gauthier
14. Percal
15. Cada vez que me recuerdes
16. Garúa
17. A bailar
18. Temblando vals
19. Orquestas de mi ciudad
20. Cada día te extraño más
21. Tabaco
22. Buenos Aires

Héctor Varela - Su Orquesta y Sus Cantores

Héctor Varela was D'Arienzo's arranger and first bandoneón for the whole decade of the 1940s. When he split to form his own band in 1950, everyone expected him to copy the D'Arienzo style, as Juan Polito had done before him, but he stunned the tango world by developing his own style.

This CD on Reliquias which presents the band's first instrumentals, covering the years 1950-1953 and including Varela's very first recording: El flete.

Tierra negra is something of a signature tune for Varela, who developed the opening solo on the bandoneón whilst he was playing and arranging for D'Arienzo. The CD even has a version of the current hit Mi dolor, albeit in an instrumental version.

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Track list

1. Champagne tango
2. Don Orlando
3. Mi dolor
4. Tierra negra
5. El africano
6. Suipacha
7. Criolla linda
8. La chacarera
9. Canaro en París
10. Llanto de amor
11. Sábado inglés
12. A la gran muñeca
13. La trilla
14. El rápido
15. El flete
16. A tres bandas
17. El fustazo
18. Los diablos rojos
19. Aguantalo si podés (De corte antiguo)
20. La taba milonga

Enrique Rodríguez - Tangos con Armando Moreno

Reliquias 529105

The orchestra of Enrique Rodríguez is one of those that tango intellectuals like to denigrate, and in fact his rehabilitation (if that's not too strong a word) was due to his recent popularity in some of the best milongas in Europe - forcing Reliquias into printing tangos that were being demanded by the dancing public on the other side of the ocean.

His orchestra was not an orquesta típica - a straight tango orchestra - but an orquesta characteristica. These outfits played not just tangos but also other ballroom and latin rhythms. The main benefit of this was that, if organising a private party, you could get away with hiring only one orchestra rather than two or three.

Rodríguez's orchestra was so successful in this that his was known as the orquesta de todo los ritmos - the orchestra of all rhythms. That's not to say he didn't play good tangos. The rhythmic conception is fairly simple, but then so is that of De Angelis or Canaro.

Pretty much ignored in the early part of the tango revival in Argentina, El Bandoneón printed a cd of his tangos in the year 2000 and eventually Reliquias followed suit. There are now 9 of his cds in the famous lime green and yellow covers, which should give you an idea of how important an orchestra his is.

His most famous and enduring partnership was with singer Armando Moreno, and it's a cd of their tangos that we present this month. Do get one of these - you'll love it. You can dance enjoyably to every track, whilst Llorar por una mujer and Yo también tuve un cariño reach the level of real greatness.

Track list

1. Naranjo en flor
2. La vi llegar
3. Luna llena
4. A media luz
5. Tango argentino
6. Un tropezón
7. El tabernero
8. La gayola
9. Suerte loca
10. Llorar por una mujer
11. Como has cambiado pebeta
12. En la buena y en la mala
13. Mi piba
14. Adiós para siempre
15. Mirame de frente
16. Tu cielo y tu
17. Adiós muchachos
18. Tu intimo secreto
19. Y así nació este tango
20. Yo también tuve un cariño